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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why do men and women look forward to the Feast of the New Yam?
(a) It is a festival of dancing around the new yams of the season and eating the rest of the old yams for the previous year.
(b) It is a feast of yam stew made from all the leftover yams of the past harvest, which is divided among all the people.
(c) It is the beginning of the season of plenty--the new year. It begins with huge quantities of fresh yams, yam foo foo and vegetable soup.
(d) The men and women cook and feed each other the yams from the previous harvest so that no food will be wasted.

2. How many men are in each of the two teams of wrestlers who face each other in the wrestling ring?
(a) Five men on each side
(b) Six men on each side
(c) Nine men on each side
(d) Twelve men on each side

3. What is the strange event that takes place in the village of Ire that Ofoedo tells Okonkwo and Obierika about?
(a) All the people in the village of Ire awoke in the night from dreams of disasters to come.
(b) The children of Ire stopped speaking for two days and went into a trance-like state.
(c) Ogbuefi Ndulue, the oldest man in the Ire village died and upon hearing about it, his wife, Ozoemena, died also.
(d) All the yams planted in the fields rotted during the night from a curse sent by evil spirits.

4. What is a man who holds the ozo title forbidden to do?
(a) Talk to a single woman in public.
(b) Drink from the tapping of short palm trees.
(c) Wrestle during the Feast of the New Yam.
(d) Tap the tall palm trees.

5. How many pots of wine do Obierika's in-laws brink to his home for the uri?
(a) None
(b) Twenty
(c) Fifty
(d) Twenty-five

6. How do the women of the clan prepare for the Feast of the New Yam?
(a) They decorate robes with intricate patterns made of colored beans, plaite each others hair, color their faces with red clay, and make veils to cover their faces during the festival.
(b) They cleanse their bodies, wear a simple robe and sandles, and scrub their faces. They are to go to the festival free of all paint, jewelry, or ornamentation of any kind.
(c) They gather in the marketplace to share all their clothing, jewelry and sandals with one another. They wear each others belongings to prove to the goddess, Ani, that they are worthy people.
(d) They scrub the walls and huts with red earth, draw patterns on them in white, yellow and green, paint themselves with cam wood, and draw black patterns on their stomach and backs.

7. What is the festival that gives thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and source of fertility?
(a) The Yam Harvest Festival
(b) The Seeds of Life Festival
(c) The New Yam Festival
(d) The Mother of the Earth Festival

8. What does Okagbue, the medicine man, dig up from under the orange tree that makes the people of the village believe that Ezinma will live to adulthood?
(a) A basket of kola nuts which were buried when Ezinma was born to trapped evil spirits. It was supposed to be dug up after a time and burned, so the evil spirits would not kill Ezinma.
(b) Ezinma's iyi-uwa, a smooth pebble wrapped in a dirty rag which links Ezinma to the spirit world. It is believed that if the iyi-uwa is found and destroyed, Ezinma will not die.
(c) A sacred amulet that the priestess made for Ezinma the day she was born. Ezinma was to wear it around her neck until the day she died.
(d) The cloth which was used to clean Ezinma after she was born. It was buried after the birth as a good luck charm that would keep the infant safe from harm. After digging it up, the child was to be washed with it once again to stay safe.

9. Which men fight in the final wrestling match of the day?
(a) The leaders of the teams are made up of the best wrestlers in the nine villages.
(b) Men chosen by the elders from each of the nine villages.
(c) Men elected in each of the nine villages.
(d) The wealthiest men from each of the nine villages.

10. What is the shameful death Unoka endures?
(a) Beheading because of his many unpaid debts.
(b) Drowning in his own vomit after too much palm-wine.
(c) Dying of the abomination of swollen stomach and limbs, never to be buried in the earth.
(d) Starvation due to his many failed crops.

11. What is the custom in the village of Obodoani if a man dies during the Week of Peace?
(a) The man is not buried, but cast into the Evil Forest.
(b) The man is buried as deep as two graves.
(c) The man is buried outside the village.
(d) The man is burned to ashes, instead of buried.

12. Why does Nwakibie trust Okonkwo to farm his yam seeds?
(a) He figures he can charge Okonkwo for the seeds with interest if the crop failed.
(b) He asks other people of the village if Okonkwo can be trusted.
(c) He can tell by looking at Okonkwo that he is a hard worker, unlike many young men of the village.
(d) He always believs big, strong men are trustworthy.

13. Okonkwo is sitting in his obi with Ikemefuna and Nwoye, eating dried locusts when Ogbuefi Ezeudu comes with a message. What is the message?
(a) Nwoye and Ikemefuna are to be declared by Umuofia as brothers for life.
(b) Ikemefuna is to remain in Okonkwo's household as a servant for the rest of his life.
(c) Umuofia decides to kill Ikemefuna. The Oracle of the Hills pronounces it. Okonkwo is not to take part in the killing because the boy calls him father.
(d) Ikemefuna is to be given all the rights of an adopted son to Okonkwo.

14. The Ibo people consider conversation to be very important. What form of conversation do they regard the most highly?
(a) Proverbs
(b) Rhyming
(c) Sarcasm
(d) Orations

15. Who appears in front of Ekwefi as she waits tearfully outside Agbala's cave?
(a) Okonkwo
(b) Chielo
(c) Nwoye
(d) Nwoye's mother

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the things that Okonkwo fears most?

2. How does Okonkwo act for two days after Ikemefuna's death?

3. Why does Unkona's neighbor, Okoye, visit him?

4. What does Okonkwo bring with him to share with the wealthy Nwakibie and his family before asking for yam seeds and share cropping privileges?

5. How does Ezinma, the daughter of Okonkwo's second wife, bring fire to Nwoye's mother's hut?

(see the answer keys)

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